Honestly, I would be surprised if former Fox News personality John Kasich is working this hard, on his own political career or anything else. We were told repeatedly he was this hard-charging Wall Street type, but my overall impression is of someone who really would prefer not to have this job, or maybe any job:
The chairman of the Portage County Republican Party says that allies of Gov. John Kasich offered him special influence over gubernatorial appointments if he agreed not to run for the state GOP central committee, which Kasich has been trying to take over. Andrew Manning sent a notarized affidavit to state and federal law-enforcement officers yesterday, asking them to investigate whether laws were broken in the alleged effort to get him to drop out of the committee race.
Manning provided a copy of the sworn statement to The Dispatch and said in an interview that he felt uncomfortable with what he perceived as the offer of a quid pro quo and “relentless” pressure from friends of Kasich. “In my opinion, I felt it was unethical and it crossed the line, but I don’t know about it being against the law,” said Manning, who has been on the 66-member central committee, the state party’s governing body, since 2008.
Manning, who said he didn’t “see a reason why (Kevin) DeWine should be kicked out as chairman,” noted that in 2010 he “worked very hard to see John Kasich elected.” He said he mailed the affidavit to the FBI in Cleveland and Cincinnati, the prosecuting attorneys of Franklin, Summit and Portage counties, and to the Ohio inspector general.
Kasich and his allies mounted an all-out campaign to wrest control of the Ohio Republican Party and oust its chairman, Kevin DeWine, in Tuesday’s primary election. Kasich fielded a slate of central committee candidates in his attempt to place at least 34 of his loyalists on the committee, the number needed to overthrow DeWine, whose current two-year term expires in January.
The move against DeWine has caused a civil war in the state party, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent in the central committee races. Kasich and his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor, made robocalls on behalf of their slate.
Both sides have declared victory, but the true result won’t be known until April, when Kasich’s allies are expected to force a vote on DeWine by the newly elected committee.
The purpose of the meeting, Manning said, “was to get me to withdraw as a candidate because it was perceived by … Kasich and his advisers that I was supporting” DeWine.
“Had I agreed to withdraw as a candidate, they told me I would be designated as the ‘Governor’s Guy’ in Portage County and that I would be given influence in who Gov. Kasich appoints to Kent State University boards and other state government appointments as they come open. “After the meeting,” Manning added in the affidavit, “I felt somewhat uncomfortable. I have always tried to conduct myself ethically, and this did not sit well with me.” DeWine refused to comment beyond saying, “I’m fully focused on uniting this party to defeat Barack Obama in the fall.”
I don’t know that it means anything beyond infighting, but I’m all for good government, so let the investigations begin. It took all Ohio Republicans working together to drag former President Bush over the finish line, and even then he needed a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage to get his supporters out. Conservatives lie about this now, but they didn’t then:
In Ohio, for instance, political analysts credit the ballot measure with increasing turnout in Republican bastions in the south and west, while also pushing swing voters in the Appalachian region of the southeast toward Mr. Bush. The president’s extra-strong showing in those areas compensated for an extraordinarily large Democratic turnout in Cleveland and in Columbus, propelling him to a 136,000-vote victory.
“I’d be naïve if I didn’t say it helped,” said Robert T. Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. “And it helped most in what we refer to as the Bible Belt area of southeastern and southwestern Ohio, where we had the largest percentage increase in support for the president.”
They’re going to have to close ranks better than this if they want to push the profoundly unappealing and dishonest Mitt Romney into “drag over the finish line” territory.
Jon Rockoford
If Democrats wanted to actually fight, they could add constitutional amendments protecting women’s health from government interference in every swing state.
Walker
Isn’t that the actual goal of any hard-charging Wall Street type?
Betty Cracker
The GOP in Florida is also in shambles, with all sorts of scandals and infighting and pretty much everyone hating on Rick Scott. Unfortunately, the state Democratic Party is a hot mess too…
@Jon Rockoford: That’s a damn good idea.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
Pretty much national, though it seems Ohio has distinguished itself in the GOP wingnut parade. Looks like Kasich is picking up right where the last gooper governor Taft did with shady dealings. This should be good news for democrats on the POTUS election, but the way things are going for the wingnuts, Texas may well be the next big swing state for OBama. Strange days.
Ken
@Walker: Good point. Look at Mitt; he’s been unemployed for how long now?
pragmatism
@Betty Cracker: on the state level you’re right. but y’allz have DWS, who is starting to get into Nancy Smash territory in terms of hatred by wingers.
cathyx
I can’t imagine that if there were a front pager at Balloon Juice who was from Oregon, that there would be a tenth of the number of stories to write about as there are from Ohio. Ohio is really messed up.
Zifnab
Is that anything like getting “Made” and becoming a part of the “Family”?
kay
Ms. Cracker, I’m interested in the Florida GOP. Florida is a mystery to me. I don’t even guess what’s going to happen there.
I used to tell Republicans here that the FL GOP was a “Republican machine” just because I got so tired of pundits and others talking about Dem “machine” politics.
Plus, it pisses them off.
Mike in NC
You know who else had a Central Committee?
BGinCHI
@cathyx: All the stories would be about beer, hemp clothing, jangly indy bands, and rain. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
cathyx
@BGinCHI: Don’t forget wine, Subarus, and salmon.
pragmatism
@cathyx: hipsters, bad facial hair, not pumping your own gas, bahn mi, food trucks.
KG
Ok, why does Kaisch not like DeWine? Is this an entirely personal thing, or is there some sort of grift/angle issue working here?
And this seems like a stupid thing to do in a presidential election year. They’re really spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a private pissing and measuring match? There’s got to be something else here, as stupid as Kaisch appears to be, he’s got to have an advisor somewhere that can point out that this is the wrong fight at the wrong time.
BGinCHI
@cathyx: Plus Apizza Scholes and the Doug Fir. Oh, and the Laurelthirst!
Powells too. And bridges. And bicycles, of course.
ETA: Sorry, kay, but you can see how ADD we are.
dogwood
@cathyx:
All states are pretty messed up. Political, social, and economic culture is much more regional than state specific. I grew up in the Idaho panhandle which is much more akin to what outsiders would think of as Montana. Now I live in north central Idaho in an area that is more eastern Washington than stereotypically Idaho. The geography of the West also makes things interesting. Idaho politics is dominated by southeastern Idaho interests. Yet I would hazzard a guess that the majority of people in northern Idaho have never been south or east of Boise. Hell Boise is a 10 hour drive from the panhandle and Pocatello another 5 hours.
Lawnguylander
@Jon Rockoford:
How would such amendments be written? It seems impossible to me to put something so broad to a vote and even if you could, why only in swing states? If the idea is to protect women’s health and not just score political points with them why not something national? National and specific, like Obamacare and birth control. We don’t just care about protecting women in swing states, do we? If the Democrats were to take your advice they’d be giving the appearance of fighting but I don’t get why we’d settle for that.
pragmatism
@BGinCHI: greenbelts and proper urban planning! no state tax!
i heart work avoidance.
cathyx
@pragmatism: And no sales tax. I love it here.
Betty Cracker
@pragmatism: I love Smash Jr.! She dishes it right back at them, which is why they hate her.
cathyx
@pragmatism: Damn you. You beat me to it.
kay
It’s fine, BG.
I never do open threads because I forget to add the tag, so O/T away.
pragmatism
@cathyx: i miss no state tax from when i lived in NV. :( loved exploring in OR. so much cool stuff there.
@Betty Cracker: i love her too. i get a lot of “she’s so uncivil! she is everything that is wrong with our political system!”. bullies hate to get punched in the nose.
kdaug
@Ken:
Shouldn’t he have to take a drug test before receiving campaign contributions?
pragmatism
@kay: sorry about the threadjacking.
i imagine that the greatest grievance that dumbass kasich and his sycophants have is that Manning had the temerity to “tell” on them. there is no place for “ethics” in an R on R situation, only results.
scav
@BGinCHI: What, Mr Speaks in Bumper Stickers, Sleep Deprived Dad ADD? Nevah! Besides, Powells is worth ADD.
brantl
@KG: Cause he backed out on Romney, and Kasich hates that.
Betty Cracker
@kay: It’s nearly as byzantine as Louisiana politics. The state GOP chair was charged with numerous felonies and removed for funneling money to his sham corporation a couple of years ago. There were all sorts of scandals associated with that, including one around Marco Rubio’s use of a state GOP credit card for personal items before he went national.
There are lingering hard feelings about Rick Scott’s ham-handed purchase of the governorship for $72M and the way he’s since run roughshod over fellow Republican’s graft schemes — not for reform purposes, mind you, but rather to redirect the largess to his own pals.
Unfortunately, the state Dems are generally too weak to capitalize on it. The Republicans have a super-majority in the legislature and will probably retain it. Hopefully Scott’s deep and abiding unpopularity will help Obama hang onto FL in November, though.
Lee
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
I wish. But it will be a very long time before Texas gets even close to being a swing state. The Republicans here in Texas have a pretty good lock on power.
Cassidy
@Lawnguylander:
Oh for fuck’s sake. It was a comment on how the GOP will put social issues on major ballots to GOTV. If it works for them, it’ll work for us.
BGinCHI
@scav:
scav
@BGinCHI: In just a little bit, when you hit solids
Lawnguylander
@Cassidy:
How’s it going to work? An amendment banning gay marriage is a very specific thing. A simple initiative targeted at simple people. How do you come up with an amendment “protecting women’s health from government interference”?
BGinCHI
@scav: I’m retreating to my happy place.
Cassidy
@Lawnguylander: There’s plenty of room for discussion on that. My remark was addressing the condescending tone of what I quoted.
Jon Rockoford
@Lawnguylander:
You’re quite right. All states would be better. I suggested swing states because by definition they have more Democrats and therefore more likely to pass the amendment. All a matter of resources.
In terms of using the correct phrasing, I think we have enough smart people who would be able to come up with language that would be popular and constitutionally solid for each state. Something like, “Government will pass no law preventing legitimate medical professionals from attending to women’s health or forcing women to undergo medical procedures deemed unnecessary by legitimate medical professionals.”
I’m sure my suggestion commits many legal, PR and other trespasses. But I’m sure constitutional scholars and political scientists could come up with something better.
Pococurante
@Lee:
In general I agree but we are already seeing some of the most populous counties tinging purple. In some cases, like mine, we are downright blue. The snowbirds who pushed us red in the very early nineties are having a rough go of it right now so it is mainly the evangelical middle class (also snowbirds) still keeping us red.
Smiling Mortician
OT but not entirely: Chris Christie is still an asshole.
WaterGirl
@Jon Rockoford: I loved the idea at first, but 5 minutes in, I”m thinking that it would bring the other side out to vote against it as much as it would bring our side out to vote for it.
And as far as I’m concerned, low voter turnout for republicans in 2012 is a good thing.
Jon Rockoford
@WaterGirl:
That’s why I prefaced my original comment with, “If Democrats wanted to actually fight.” We never want to fight. We’re afraid the other side will win, or we don’t want to offend, etc., etc. We always come up with a million reasons for not fighting hard for what we know is right. If we’re afraid that the other side will prevail, we really should never try to do anything. And most of the time we don’t.
AA+ Bonds
Paul Sracic on FoxNews.com’s front page: It’s practically impossible that anyone other than Romney will win the nomination, but it is very rude to say that out loud:
Origuy
Kay, do you know anything about this William R. Smith, who won the Democratic 2nd Congressional district. Apparently, no one has heard much about him.
priscianusjr
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
Palli
@Jon Rockoford:
How about re-introducing the ERA Amendment – 1923-1982 when it finally died without sufficient states’ ratification?
ExurbanMom
In my county in Ohio, a friend attended a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, featuring a speaker from the Columbus branch. She told me that the speaker said “Gov. Kasich isn’t going to do anything about school funding, because he’s ticked off at local school boards for not getting behind Issue 2.”
There is so much fail in that statement, I hardly know where to begin. First off, school boards are nonpartisan and supposed to be above politics. Sure, they aren’t always able to be that way, but that is the goal. Second, school boards have to work with the teacher unions. It’s not a completely adversarial relationship. Boards would be foolish to support something like Issue 2 and then expect to continue a decent relationship with their teachers. Third, he was elected, in part, because he promised to do something about school funding.
I’d love to paint him as a “do nothing” governor. What a total, total failure.
Jim
Alas, no matter how f’d up the repugs are I despair about the Dems ability to take advantage of the situation.